Baltimore Launches Second Community Action Lab in Southeast

Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott’s administration launched a second Community Action Lab on July 9, 2026, bringing the city-led public-safety program to the Baltimore Police Department’s Southeastern District.

The program will pair residents and emerging leaders with city agencies for paid work focused on violence prevention and neighborhood improvement. Sessions are scheduled to run for 12 weeks, from Aug. 31 through Nov. 20, 2026.

For residents in Southeast Baltimore, the change is a defined opportunity to take part in neighborhood-focused public-safety work rather than encounter the initiative only as a city agency program. The announcement does not identify the number of participants, the total budget or specific projects that will be completed.

How the program will work

The Community Action Lab is a partnership among the Mayor’s Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement, the Baltimore Police Department and the Baltimore City Innovation Team.

Its curriculum will include community development, violence prevention, environmental design and neighborhood improvement. Environmental design generally concerns how streets, buildings and public spaces are arranged and maintained, but the announcement does not list particular sites or projects for this lab.

The city describes the opportunity as a paid, 12-week leadership program for residents and emerging leaders in the Southeastern District. That structure places some of the work related to safety and neighborhood conditions into a resident-led format while keeping city agencies involved as partners.

Part of Baltimore’s public-safety plan

The second lab is part of Baltimore’s Neighborhood Public Safety Plan work. It also arrives as the administration begins carrying out its second-term action plan.

Baltimore Brew reported in May that the second-term plan called for public implementation milestones beginning in summer 2026 and CitiStat monitoring in fall 2026. Those milestones provide broader administrative context for the lab, but they do not establish results for the Southeastern District program.

The available announcement reports the program’s design and schedule, not measured crime outcomes. It does not show that the second lab has reduced violence, changed neighborhood conditions or caused a broader decline in Baltimore’s homicide rate. The initiative’s stated focus is narrower: training and supporting Southeastern District residents and emerging leaders through community-based work.

What residents can expect next

The next known step is the start of the program on Aug. 31. The scheduled sessions are expected to continue through Nov. 20, giving participants a fixed period to complete the curriculum and work with the city’s partner agencies.

The program’s practical impact will depend in part on how that work is translated into neighborhood improvements and how the city evaluates it after the sessions end. The source announcement does not provide a participant target, funding breakdown or outcome measures, so the program’s reach and results cannot yet be assessed from the available information.

For now, the confirmed development is the launch of a second, paid Community Action Lab with a specific Southeastern District focus. Its start date, partner agencies and curriculum are set, while the details of participant numbers, projects, budget and measured results remain unspecified.